Thursday, August 03, 2006

a message from mel gibson?

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A well-known American rabbi has invited actor Mel Gibson, who has come under fire for recent anti-Semitic remarks, to speak at his synagogue for Yom Kippur.

"I wish to invite you to come and speak in order that you might directly express to the Jewish community your remorse," Rabbi David Baron, of the Beverly Hills-based Temple of the Arts, wrote in a letter to the actor dated August 1.

Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, falls on October 1 this year.

Gibson, who checked into a detoxification program on Monday, apologized to the Jewish community on Tuesday for anti-Semitic remarks he uttered while being arrested for drunken driving and asked to meet Jewish leaders to make amends.

"I am not just asking for forgiveness," he said. "I would like to take it one step further, and meet with the leaders in the Jewish community, with whom I can have a one-on-one discussion to discern the appropriate path for healing."

The TMZ.com celebrity website released a police report in which the devout Catholic director of the blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ" referred to "f...ing Jews" after his car was pulled over in the dawn hours Friday at twice the legal speed limit.

"The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," he was quoted as saying in the report after first asking the arresting police officer: "Are you a Jew?"

Rabbi Baron, who describes his Temple in a letter posted on the TMZ.com website as "the largest entertainment industry synagogue in the United States," said that the key to Gibson's apology "is the sincerity of the individual and it must be demonstrated in word and deed."

Every year Baron invites a high-profile celebrity to speak at his synagogue for Yom Kippur. In 2005 New York Senator Hillary Clinton spoke about personal forgiveness, the letter read."

o dear o dear o dearcynical ravaj says great shot rabbi - maybe if i had ideas like that i would have a much more successful career in the congregational rabbinate.non-cynical ravaj is already asleep - i should go join her ...